My name is Sergey Nalivko. I am from Brest. On August 9, 2020, I voted for Svetlana Tikhanovskaya during the day, and in the evening I went to the city center — I saw how people were grabbed and beaten. And then I realized: I can't just watch. Since then, I have gone to all the protests.
The first time I was detained was when we gathered in memory of Roma Bondarenko. I knew him a little. They kept us on our knees for three hours. Some were then taken to a temporary detention center, some, like me, were released. But not for long.
Soon they came for me in the “round dance case”. They knocked on the door, threatened to call the riot police to break it down. They opened a criminal case and sentenced me to probation order — this is a type of punishment with restriction of freedom. Furthermore, they sent me to Vitebsk. There they first gave me 10 days in a punishment cell for refusing to clean the toilet. Then they added another 30 for an alleged escape attempt. The pressure was constant.
And then – the second case. I wrote a comment on the Internet about an officer from the 38th Airborne Brigade who threw the white-red-white flag on the floor to wipe his feet on it. For this I was given another 2 years and sent to a penal colony. In total – 3 years and 3 months.
I had a micro-heart attack in prison – right on the day of the trial. I spent the last months in colony #8 near Orsha. Almost every day – searches, nitpicking, isolation. The prisoners were turned against me: “he’s a political”.
I was released on October 26, 2024. Since then, I’ve been trying to start from scratch.
I’m in Warsaw now. I’m temporarily living in a shelter, but my term will soon end. I have no housing, no belongings, and no stable job yet. I’m asking for your help just to get back on my feet.
How much is needed?
€2200
€1200 – rent for the first 2-3 months;
€500 – purchase of basic items (clothes, dishes, bedding, equipment);
€200 – food for the first weeks;
€150 – paperwork, travel, mobile communications;
€150 – unforeseen expenses: urgent purchases, medicines, adaptation to everyday life.